Distinctive expectations for graduates of Catholic schools are determined and shaped by the vision and destiny of the human person emerging from our faith tradition. This Christian anthropology or world view, reveals the dignity and value of the person. Our tradition tells us God creatively and lovingly calls each of us into the wonder of life, sustaining us by the power of the Holy Spirit, throughout the human journey, into life eternal. We acknowledge that the journey includes moments of brokenness and sin.

We recognize in the person of Jesus, the risen Christ, the human face of God sharing our life in order to heal us of our brokenness and liberate us from sin. This Christian vision of the human journey is best understood within the context of relationship. It is accomplished in community, in solidarity with brothers and sisters in the Church and beyond.

Catholic education views human life as an integration of body, mind, and spirit. Rooted in this vision, Catholic education fosters the search for knowledge as a lifelong spiritual and academic quest. The expectations of Catholic graduates, therefore, are described not only in terms of knowledge and skills, but in terms of values, attitudes and actions.

The distinctive character of Ontario's Catholic school curriculum is embodied by the fifty-two Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations. The Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations reflect the Gospel values at the heart of Catholic education, and portray the ideal characteristics of young men and women graduating from our schools.

In 1998, the first edition of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations was released within the Catholic education community. Immediately they were used as a framework for designing Ontario Catholic curriculum, in the development of youth leadership, teacher education and administrative programs and to support the work of local board initiatives.

In 2011, the second edition of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations has been released. After extensive consultation within the Catholic community the seven overall and fifty-two specific expectations have been validated and remain unchanged. The second edition does however provide a revised preface, a new format, an accompanying DVD, I Believe, and samples of practice in the use of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations.

The Institute for Catholic Education invites all stakeholders to continue to embrace and use the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations to guide their programming and work in Catholic education.​